The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory is taking a giant leap in fostering new space innovators with the launch of the Orbital Edge Accelerator program. This bold initiative is designed to integrate cutting-edge startups and investment partners into the rapidly expanding space economy. Through the accelerator, six pioneering startups will be selected to receive an investment of up to $500,000 each—which is being provided by global investors Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), E2MC, and Stellar Ventures—along with mentorship and the opportunity to launch an ISS National Lab-sponsored investigation. By bridging the gap between early-stage companies and space-based innovation, the Orbital Edge Accelerator program aims to unlock discoveries that can benefit humanity and drive new commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit.

Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt. In a study publishing April 2 in the Cell Press journal iScience, researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and tasted similar to miso fermented on Earth—just with a slightly nuttier, more roasted flavor. The team hopes this research will help broaden the culinary options available to astronauts, improving the quality of life for long-term space travelers.  

Terrestrial carbon cycle dynamics remain one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in climate projections, with diverging estimates of ecosystem carbon uptake, affecting the accuracy of Earth system models.

To address these challenges, CONCERTO (Improved CarbOn cycle represeNtation through multi-sCale models and Earth obseRvation for Terrestrial ecOsystems), was launched in January 2025.

For a long time, scientists thought that only actively star-forming galaxies should be observed in the very early Universe. The James Webb space telescope now reveals that galaxies stopped forming stars earlier than expected. A recent discovery by an international team, led by astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), deepens the tension between theoretical models of cosmic evolution and actual observations. Among hundreds of spectra obtained with the Webb program RUBIES, the team has found a record-breaking galaxy that had already stopped forming stars during an epoch where galaxies are normally growing very rapidly. This study is published in the Astrophysical Journal.